Introduction

Oscar winning director Sophia Coppola has reopened
the history books to highlight the life of famous French
queen Marie Antoinette from Sophia's unique perspective
through the acting of Kirsten Dunst.

Kristen Dunst
as
Marie Antoinette
Columbia Pictures
2006

Sony Pictures
All Rights Reserved

The film, which is eagerly awaited has captured the
imagination of the modern day fashion media. Even
before the film formally opened noted fashionistas have
been swarming to adopt modern versions of Marie
Antoinette's hair, beauty and fashion trends.

Fashion and jewels aside, Marie Antoinette was famous
for her extravagant three foot high coifs that were
often outrageously adorned with feathers, miniature
sculptures of ships and an array of glittering opulent
jewels.

Looking at the photos of the beautiful French queen
always makes me wonder how in the world she endured
lugging around several pounds of hair, jewels and
feathers. An even better question, how did she
dance at court balls with her massive headdresses?

Indeed, Marie Antoinette often towered over her pale
and sickly husband, Louis XVI by several feet.
Being a queen that always took hair, beauty and fashion
trends to excess, Marie Antoinette would spend many
hours undergoing very elaborate hairdressing rituals.

To achieve the big hair, the royal hairdressers would
use layers and layers of padding along with pomades and
other styling products to lift the young Austrian born
queen's hair several feet into the air. Yes,
that's right, I said several feet.

It turns out that the Queen was unhappily married to
her husband, Louis XVI. Consequently she chased
away her boredom by shopping. Well at least
shopping for her time in history.

Kristen Dunst
as
Marie Antoinette
Columbia Pictures
2006

Sony Pictures
All Rights Reserved

Spending lavishly on the latest fashions, jewels and
adornments, she exceeded her clothing allowance every
year to the horror of the French court and citizens.
the extravagance of the queen's fashion were rivaled
only the alarming hairstyles she adopted.

Marie Antoinette's shopping and spending addictions
drew criticism from her mother who was the Austrian
Empress Maria Theresa. Marie Antoinette argued
that she was merely following the dictaes of French
fashions. Ironically during that time in history
the queen set all the trends and could have as easily
adopted a more frugal fashion attire if she desired to
do so.

During her reign, before she was literally beheaded
her hair was always a point of fascination whether she
wore it in a long cascading style or piled on top of her
head.

It was also the era of the “Belle Poule” – the
infamous hairstyle that was piled mile-high on the head
and lined with fruit, toys and feathers – which Marie
Antoinette cultivated to an extreme degree. Yet later,
Marie Antoinette also ushered in a major fashion shift,
turning France towards a period of simpler, more
free-flowing and natural dress that presaged a time of
tremendous change.

Summary

Various styles were in vogue depending on who you were
and what you were doing at the time. The mob cap was as
ubiquitous for women as the tricorn was for men. It was
made of cotton or linen gathered to a band and covered
much of the hair which was piled up underneath it.
Several styles of cloth bonnet were utilized including
one with long “lappets” down each side of the face and
the “calash” which was large enough to fit over high
hair styles but was collapsible for ease of storage when
not being used. Fashionable ladies might wear a
“cartwheel” hat of straw, perhaps bedecked with silk
flowers and tied under the chin with a ribbon.

Both
men and women typically wore some type of headwear
(whether wig and/or hat, cap, bonnet, etc.) during most
of their comings and goings. This was especially true
outdoors not only for fashion’s sake but also for the
practical reason of protection from the elements. Ladies
in particular tried to avoid getting sun on their faces
to a degree which might darken their fair complexions.
In contrast to the later 19th century, both men and
women commonly wore some type of headwear while indoors
as well. However, this would generally not be the case
during certain social functions such as a Ball.

Hair
and Wigs:

Hairstyles for ladies were often high, sometimes
extravagantly so. Many cartoons of the time poked fun at
fashionable ladies for their ponderous coiffures. Women
(like the men) also commonly used wigs and hair pieces
as well as white powder.

Dunst faced not only emotional challenges in
portraying Marie Antoinette’s journey from playful child
to tragic Queen but the physical challenges of being
transformed into an 18th Century fashion goddess
complete with rib-crushing corsets, truly massive hair
and extensive makeup, including the lavish rouge circles
that were emblematic of the French aristocracy. “The
daily process was pretty brutal,” Dunst admits.

“There was a constant flow of dry shampoo and hair
spray and they were always piling more and more stuff on
me. I often needed a break after the hair and makeup
sessions because it was so stressful.”

Hairdressing did not emerge as a profession
until the reign of Louis XV of France and the influence
on hair fashions by his mistress, Madame de Pompadour.
Wig makers were prominent before this time but no
hairdressers. Elaborate theme parties were thrown by
socialites of the French Court. Women started hiring
artists to create hairstyles depicting the theme of
these parties. The hair was draped over a frame stuffed
with cotton, wool, or straw and cemented with a paste
that hardened. The hair was then powdered and decorated.
Hairdos had live birds in cages, waterfalls, Cupids, and
naval battles, complete with ships and smoke. One widow,
overcome with mourning, had her husband's tombstone
erected in her hair. This time in history is where the
term "hairdresser" was born. They dressed the hair with
ornamentation. By 1767 there were 1200 hairdressers
working in Paris; a few years earlier there had been
none.

Problems were many during this time. Women developed backaches
from the weight of these monstrosities. They
traveled for miles by carriage to these
parties, bent over in the coach because
their hair would not travel upright. The
combination of being corseted and wearing
bustiers added to the discomfort! The
pomades to hold these styles together were
made of beef lard and bear grease. Because
these women paid a high dollar amount for
the hairdos, they kept them for a week or
two. The hair became rancid and would often
attract vermin while the mistress slept.
That is where the term, her hair is a "rats
nest" originated. French perfumes became
renowned to cover the smell of the rotting
pomades.